


Close Enough

by viridianova



Category: Haikyuu!!
Genre: Christmas Fluff, F/F, Love Confessions
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-12-21
Updated: 2014-12-21
Packaged: 2018-03-02 16:33:49
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,674
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2818850
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/viridianova/pseuds/viridianova
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Yachi wants to ask Shimizu out, in a non-traditional way.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Close Enough

**Author's Note:**

  * For [scatmccall](https://archiveofourown.org/users/scatmccall/gifts).



> I was really excited when I saw your KiyoYachi request! It really doesn't get enough love in the fandom, so I hope you enjoy this! I realized later that the timeline probably doesn't make much sense (I'm not sure they both would've been managers for the volleyball team during the winter), but— a little bit of timeline bending never hurt anyone, right?
> 
> Happy holidays!

It wasn't a traditional time for love confessions. But then again, this wasn't exactly a traditional confession, either.

Logically, confessions were supposed to happen in February, on Valentine's Day. They were supposed to involve chocolate left in shoe cubbies or on desks and they most importantly involved Girls confessing to Boys and probably a lot of rejection and laughter to go along with that.

Yachi didn't want to confess to a boy. She wanted to confess to Shimizu Kiyoko, her senior manager, and the most beautiful girl at Karasuno High.

Shimizu was honestly the type of girl who inspired guys to flip the traditions for Valentines Day and confess to her. Or even worse, to confess to her on any day of the week, given the number of love notes that she saw on a daily, or weekly, basis.

It was all a little too crazy for her, if she was being honest at all. She didn't want to be the type of person who brought down the wrath of the general populace by pairing off with her.

But she still liked her. And she still wanted to do something.

That's why she was far away from Chiba, all the way in Tokyo, after hours on trains and busses, to enter what, according to her internet research, anyways, was the best bakery in all of Japan.

She was actually a little bit starstruck just looking at it if she was being totally honest with herself. Most people would say it was impossible to be starstruck by cake, but she definitely was.

These were beautiful cakes.

Her very first action was to find the display of Christmas cakes— the traditional kind, the kind with all of the perfectly applied whipped cream and perfectly cut strawberries arranged in elaborate shapes on top. She wasn't actually sure when this tradition had started, but she wanted to get this much right, at least.

Of course, she probably should have bought the cake more than three days before Christmas.

That didn't stop her from being surprised, embarrassed, and a little disappointed when she went up to ask the woman standing behind the counter if she could order one Christmas cake, to be picked up immediately.

"Orders for Christmas cakes," she said, looking down at her slightly scoldingly, "have been sold out for a month. You'll have to try some place else if that's what you want."

For a moment, Yachi actually considered doing just that— leaving this shop and traipsing around until she found some place that would sell her a Christmas cake on such short notice. She had never had to think about something like this before— her mother had occasionally bought a cake for the two of them when she was younger, but she hadn't had a real conception of where the cake came from.

But before she left, she managed to stop herself. It wasn't just a matter of buying a cake, after all— there were bakeries closer to home, and they would probably still sell her a Christmas cake on such short notice. But none of those places were the _best_.

It wasn't like there was going to be anything traditional about this, in the end. And there were so many cakes to consider, so she just nodded politely at the cashier and went back to window-shopping.

The first cake she looked at wasn't really cake at all— but rather a selection of mont blancs. She hadn't known that mont blancs could come in so many flavors: besides the usual chestnut, there were also mango, pumpkin, and taro varieties as well. They looked so pretty too, with the filling piled up so high that they appeared capable of falling at any moment. They were tempting— but the delicacy would be a hazard, and she'd be afraid that if something happened to them on the bus or train that they would get squashed. Not that being squashed would affect the edibility of the cake at all, but she didn't want to give Shimizu something that had been all mushed up.

She looked at a display of different types of Castella next. She'd always thought that there was only the one kind— the yellow and brown sponge cake, that was simple but dependingly delicious. But here they sold all kinds— the standard sort that she was used to, but also bright green ones that had to be green tea, along with more standard looking ones that claimed to be made with brown sugar or honey instead of the plain white sugar it was usually made with. The Castella from this bakery was probably delicious, but she dismissed it on account of probably being too plain.

When she came upon the baumkuchen, she was almost convinced that she had found the cake. She'd only tried it a couple of times, but she'd always been enchanted by the simple vanilla taste and its beautiful layers. She could get a small one without having to worry, but then she suddenly remembered that her mother had taken a baumkuchen to a wedding as a return gift once, saying it was traditional to do so.

She flushed a bit— that was definitely too bold of a message to send right now!

Luckily, the next cake she saw was absolutely _perfect_. Mille crepe! Sure, it wasn't a traditional Christmas cake, but it tasted delicious, and more importantly it looked beautiful and would keep fairly easily. She chose one made with orange liquer and orange zest, thinking that the bright citrusy flavor would make a nice counter to the cold weather. She left the bakery with her new purchase, feeling fairly satisfied.

Now she just had to wait until Christmas Eve.

* * *

She was pretty sure that Shimizu didn't have a boyfriend, so this shouldn't have been too difficult. She still held her breath a little as she called Shimizu on her cellphone, waiting for her to pick up.

"Hello?"

"O- oh— Shimizu-san! Hello!"

Shimizu's voice, which had been almost severe when she'd picked up, seemed to soften considerably.

"Yachi-chan. Is there some trouble with the club?"

"Err... no..." She deflated considerably. She hadn't known that Shimizu could be so dense.

"Then what's the matter?"

"Ah— I was just wondering— if you'd like to get dinner tomorrow? It's Christmas Eve, but my mother has a date and I didn't really want to hang out with the club even though they're probably doing something..."

She couldn't believe that she'd actually said it. She'd asked Shimizu out! Well, at least, she'd sort of asked her out, even if she hadn't really phrased it like that. The silence, however, felt deafening, while she waited for her answer.

"Sure."

"Oh—! Okay, is seven okay? I'll come get you!"

There was another pause.

"Alright, I look forward to it."

Yachi almost jumped for joy after she hung up, and then stopped herself because her mother would probably come in to ask what on earth she was so excited about and if she could keep it down.

* * *

She arrived on Shimizu's doorstep at seven on the dot. She thought she looked extra pretty today, somehow, but she kept herself from saying anything.

A KFC had just opened up in town, and that's where she led Shimizu first. Sure, KFC was hardly fancy date food, but it was what you were supposed to eat on Christmas, and she wanted to do at least one part of this properly.

Of course, given how everything else had gone (except for Shimizu saying yes), she couldn't really expect that this would work out.

"Reservations only, miss," the host at the front of the restaurant said. Yachi couldn't believe it, and she got up on her toes just to verify that the restaurant _was_ in fact, busy— but Shimizu ended up being the one to pull her back.

"I don't really like KFC anyways," she said, and then dragged her off to a different place to eat.

* * *

It ended up being ramen— a place that Yachi had eaten at many times, although lately it had mostly been with the entire volleyball team, so it was weird to be there with just one person. The food was delicious, though, and filling, and she barely said anything to Shimizu the entire time they were there.

It wasn't even all that awkward, until they had to pay, and Yachi realized she didn't have enough cash to pay her share. She didn't want to let Shimizu pay for her, but she put the money on the table and started getting her coat on before Yachi could properly protest. She followed her outside though— she needed to stop her before she managed to leave. There wouldn't be much point to this if she couldn't give her the cake, after all.

"Umm... Shimizu-san," she asked, a little breathless. "Would you like to come back to my apartment?"

She was pretty sure that her mom was still out, so they'd have privacy for a few hours.

Shimizu just looked at her— but it wasn't anything hard, like a glare.

"Sure."

* * *

"Ah— please make yourself comfortable, Shimizu-san!"

She ushered Shimizu over to the kitchen table, trying her best to be a good host. 

"Is there something you wanted to ask me, Yachi-chan?"

Yachi bolted upright, momentarily distracted from the cake.

"Uh— what?"

When she looked at Shimizu, she almost looked faintly embarrassed. Yachi actually blinked several times, trying to make sure that she wasn't hallucinating that flush, or something.

"Just— hold on!" 

Maybe it would be better to just get this out of the way. Trying her hardest to conceal her cake preparation from her, she placed one candle in the center of the mille crepe, and lit it.

She turned around, to find Shimizu still looking faintly embarrassed.

"Shimizu-san— I know this is a little weird, and I probably should've asked you this first, before we went to dinner, but— would you go on a date with me?"

Her smile was the only answer she needed.

(But the cake wasn't left forgotten, either.)


End file.
